Books That We Are Insanely Looking Forward To Read 3 - Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

What? Another Jennifer L. Armentrout book? First White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) and Fifty First Times: A New Adult Anthology, which is a book about nineteen of the best New Adult, Young Adult, and Romance authors who give us a peek inside some of their characters' lives' most intense moments, just came out nine days ago, then there's the so badly anticipated Opposition, which is the 5th and last installment of one of her most famous sequels, the Lux series. It will be published on August 5 (I've already written an article on it (Book That We Are Insanely Looking Forward To Read 2 - Opposition). We'll also get two special Collector's Edition of this series on June 3 (article HERE) and in this year there will be published Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2), Be with Me (Wait for You #2), Tempting the Bodyguard (Gamble Brothers #3), Stay with Me (Wait for You #3), Scorched (Frigid #2), and Undone (Nephilim Rising #2) by her, however, she's been writing the last 5 books as J. Lynn, which is her pen name for her New Adult and Adult romanc books. Looks like it's going to be a great and profitable year for her. And so, I believe, a great and profitable year for us, since her works are usually lovable and thrilling. 

So this is my next article of Books That We Are Insanely Looking Forward To Read topic, since I skipped the last one on Sunday, and I though I'd catch up on it. I hope you'll like it!

Don't Look Back:

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Expected date of publishing: April 15, 2014
Pages: 384 pages (Hardcover and Kindle Edition)
            368 pages (Paperback)

Synopsis:

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all—popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend. Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or  

what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her—even if the old Sam treated him like trash. But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory—someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

My thoughts:

The cover(s):

As you can see there are two types of covers. The upper one is the cover of the hardcover and the Kindle edition and the latter belongs to the Paperback. As I see it, both of them are well-designed, showing the plot perfectly, which I consider to be very important, in two different ways. In the first cover, there's a girl standing in front of a broken mirror. She's looking perfect in her bright, pink tutu, with her slender shape, blond hair and exquisite posture, full of enquiry and pride. Hovewer, her reflection is exactly the opposite. It's wearing a dirty white tutu and her posture is hunched, looking as though she is suffering by herself. To my way of thinking, it symbolizes Sam old and new life. Behind the mirror, there's the old, mean Sam, who was perfect, in the aspect of look, but was cruel in the aspect of manner, and outside of it, there's the new Sam, who is affable and grabs the second chance she got, to become a better person, daughter, sister, and friend. There is a text above the mirror, reading "you won't like what you find". To me it's a brief, but very catchy felicity. I also like this dark lacklustre dark reddish background, which, in my point of view, suggests the vagueness of the occurences, the past, and the memories... In the second picture, it's hard to determine what kind of place we are at. It looks like an erupting geyser, which matches to the subheading "A night you can't remember. A crime you must expose." The night apparently the night of the attack, which she can't recall, and the crime is the assault, she and Cassie (by the way I like her name...Just kidding ;)) went through and Sam has to remember in order to enhance the chance of finding Cassie and expose the felon. In the foreground there's a girl in a red dress. It must be Sam, running from something or somebody, keep prying back over her shoulder, intending to know if she finally managed to shake off her chaser. I think the way the red letters loom in front of the vapor is just striking. Fascinating. Dangerous... I love it. Neverthless, all thing considered, I prefer the first one. I'm not completely sure why, it just catched me better than the second. The short motto had a bigger impact on me and whole cover as one, tells me more about the atmosphere of the story and about the plot.

The story:

In the past few month, I wasn't pleased with any blurbs. I don't know what's this thing with me lately, but I just wasn't. Although in most of the cases, after reading the book I was totally in love with it e.g. Obsidian. However this synopsis is kind of captivated me. Not like synopses used to do so, thrilling me up to the point of sqeaking from excitement and buying the certain book right away, but now at least, I finally can see a glimmer of hope that blurbs will capture me again. 

So, there's a crime. One night Cassie and Sam, who are best friends, go out and they don't come back. Eventually, Sam reappeares but without Cassie and she can't remember anything from before the night as well as the attack. Slowly she puts the pieces of her previous life together, and she learn how vile she was and that they were more like best enemies with Cassie, than best friends and she realizes that she doesn't want to be that person any more hence she decides to change it, become a new, more amicable somebody. Meanwhile she ought to be working on how to recall that night so that they can find Cassie and she can move on, but there's someone out there who doesn't want her to remember. 

For the first sight it seems a very intreguing plot to me. I haven't really read crime stories yet, though strictly it is not one as well. There are several distinct threads, which as I see it, is an important trait of a good book. Sam's past, how will she be able to remember, how will she be a better person, her crush on Carson, let alone the crime, however, the more a story is intricate the more possibilities of flaws there will be. If Armentrout builds it up well, one clue, one little movement at a time, not just rushing through the book and besides she manages not to slow down the story to the point of unreadableness it can be one of the most suspenseful books of the year, as I see it. But indeed, I expect nothing less from her than the capability of creating a thrilling book as good writer as she is. 

I became really curious about several things. Firstly, the details of the crime. I can't wait to find out what happened to the girls and who did it, where's Cassie, can she remember, moreover, why can't Sam remember? I also hope that we'll get to know why Sam used to be so spiteful, if it even had a reason. By the way Sam. Her character definitely piqued my curiosity. A girl who is rather hostile but then she forgets everything and chooses to be nice. What's more, she does so because she decides that she doesn't like the person, who she was alleged to be. There has to be more to that. I'm also very eager to know that if she and Cassie were more like enemies, why did they go out together? I wouldn't want to spend my time with somebody who I don't even like. It seems to me that it's mor complicated than that, too. And, last but not least, who is the person who wants her to stay quiet? Most likely the attacker but who is he or she? (Frankly, as I'm writing I'm getting more and more thrilled.)

Before Reading Rating:

Cover: 6/5 (I usually don't give 6 but this time I can't help myself)

Characters: 5/5 

Plot: 5/5

Overall Before Reading Rating:     

About the author:

# 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia. 

All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true.

Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.

She is the author of the Covenant Series (Spencer Hill Press), the Lux Series (Entangled Teen), Don't Look Back (Disney/Hyperion) and a yet untitled novel (Disney/Hyperion), and new YA paranormal series with Harlequin Teen.

Jennifer also writes New Adult and Adult romance under the pen name J. Lynn. The Gamble Brothers Series (Tempting the Best Man/Tempting the Player) and Wait for You. Under her pen name, she is published with                                                       Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins. 

Other books from the author: 

She has numerous other young adult series and individual novels. You can check them out HERE.

And she also writes New Adult and romance novels as J. Lynn. You can check these out HERE.